CHAPTER 16
Various Titles
 “First Filipino” –Leon Ma. Guerrero (in his book of the
same title)
 “Great Malayan” – because of his race
 “Philippine Patriot” – Austin Craig (one of the first
biographers of Rizal)
 great exemplar, a model Filipino- to many Filipinos
 only national hero of the Phils. – to most Filipinos
 Tagalog Christ or a saint – realm of the supernatural
Titles which denigrate Rizal
 “Last Spaniard” – Nick Joaquin (contrast to Guerrero’s
First Filipino)
 Rizal up to his last moment declared that he was
not a traitor to Spain
 Rizal asked not to be shot at the back because he
never betrayed Spain
 Spaniards considered him a traitor and an ingrate
for having studied in Spanish institutions and he
used his knowledge to spread evil propaganda
against Spain.
 Rizal’s family benefitted from Dominican
Administrators of Calamba Estate
 Conservative Spaniards saw Rizal as a “rabble rouser”
 “Filipino Hamlet” –for his contradicting views
 “an American-sponsored hero” –author and historian
Renato Constantino
 others scored Rizal for his wanderlust
 womanizer
 Rizal was the father of Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong
The “Loves” of Rizal
 Rizal’s relationships were mostly serial relationships
 simultaneous relationship with Leonor Valenzuela,
Vicenta Ybardaloza and Leonor Rivera when he was a
student in UST but he settled with Leonor Rivera (-he
remained faithful)
 often ended painfully for him
 hard for him to recover, failed to tell Segunda Katigbak
his feelings in 1878
 Leonor Rivera was going to marry Englishman Henry
Kipping, he wrote to Blumentritt that he felt like
losing his mind
 according to Trinidad, Rizal was center of attraction,
able to mix with them and chaperoned them on their
shopping trips
1. Segunda Katigbak
2. Leonor Valenzuela
3. Vicenta Ybardaloza
4. Leonor Rivera
5. Consuelo Ortiga Lesser known:
1. Julia- childhood crush
6. Nelly Boustead
2. Miss “L” of Intramuros
7. Suzanne Jacoby
8. Usui Seiko
9. Gertrude Beckett
10. Josephine Bracken-married and lived with in Dapitan
Was Rizal deserving to be the National Hero
Other national heroes:
1. Andres Bonifacio
-never won a single battle during Phil. Revolution
-siding with one faction led to his ouster as leader and
his execution by fellow Filipinos
2. Emilio Jacinto
3. Apolinario Mabini
4. Marcelo H. Del Pilar
Emilio Aguinaldo
- pledged allegiance to US a month after being captured in
Palanan, Isabela
-apparatus trying to seek collaboration of Filipinos with
Japanese
The Filipino “Hamlet”
 favored Revolution and at times stuck to Reforms
 revolution=blood in his hands; reform=hopeless
 hopes for reforms but despairs when not obtaining these
 predicts revolution but fears its coming
 Filipinos might be morally unprepared when
independence is obtained
 “The slaves of today might be the tyrants of tomorrow”-
Rizal
 advocated first the inculcation of moral virtues
Was Rizal an American-made Hero?
 many Filipinos subscribed to this belief
 they believed that he never favored revolution or
independence for the Phils. instead he favored a quiet
evolutionary process that involves education.
 Historian Esteban de Ocampo attributed the American
hand in choosing Rizal over all other heroes to the
statement made by Gov. Gen. William Howard Taft
addressed to the Filipino members of Philippine
Commission Trinidad Pardo de Tavera, Benito Legarda
and Jose Luzurriaga. “And now gentleman, you must
have a national hero.”
Considered in the deliberation of merits were:
-Marcelo H. Del Pilar
*Rizal was the choice of the
-General Antonio Luna
committee
-Emilio Jacinto
-Graciano Lopez Jaena
-Andres Bonifacio
 Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo issued a decree on Dec. 20, 1898
declaring Dec. 30 as a “Day of Mourning for Jose Rizal
and other Victims of the Phil. Revolution.”
 the decree became the basis of present Rizal Day
 Daet, Camarines Norte-Filipino masons erected a
monument dedicated to Rizal on Dec. 30, 1898
 It bears the words “A Jose Rizal” “Noli Me
Tangere” “El Filibusterismo” and “Morga”
(refers to the book Sucesos en las Islas Filipinas
annotated in 1890)
  This monument antedates the better known
Rizal Monument constructed at the Luneta in
Manila in 1911. It was paid by Filipino people
and constructed through public subscription.
 One peso coin- bears the likeness of Rizal
 Knights of the Grand Order of Rizal
-aims to propagate the ideas and ideals of Rizal
-every year members are seen honouring him every
Dec. 30
Rizal Elevated to the Supernatural?
1. Iglesia Filipina Independiente/ Phil. Independent Church
-considered him as one of its saints
-founder Isabelo de los Reyes advocated “canonization” of
Rizal along with 3 martyred priests
-Sept. 24, 1903-they were canonized
-Isabelo de los Reyes, Jr. (became Obispo Maximo or
Supreme Bishop of the Church) said that the canonization
of Rizal was an expression of intensely nationalistic phase
of the development of church and Rizal is presently not
anymore honored as a saint of the church
2. Millennarian groups
-considered Rizal as another Tagalog Christ (Kristong
Tagalog)
-they were formed because of the belief that at the end
of a millenium or century, the world will end and a
messiah would arrive to redeem the world. Only believers
would be saved.
-Apolinario De la Cruz (Hermano Pule)
–founder of Cofradia de San Jose
-portrayed to be Christ-like, executed by
quartering like the biblical lamb taken to the
slaughter.
a. Anting-anting groups in Mt. Banahaw
-Rizal would one day return as the messiah of the
Filipinos and will redeem the nation from its
oppressors and will lead the believers to a utopian
society.
-believed that the Phils. will be the new Jerusalem
b. Santa Iglesia
-headed by Felipe Salvador or Apo Ipe believed that
Rizal was a supernatural being. He was captured and
sentenced to die in 1907
-led an armed struggle against the Americans in the
early 20th century
-His followers reported seeing their dead leader
talking with Rizal
3. Sambahang Rizal (Rizal Church)-1918
-established by Basilio Aromin in Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija
-taught his followers to honor Rizal who was appointed by
Bathala to redeem the Filipino race.
-also said that Rizal was like Christ who offred his life to
save mankind.
4. Bathalismo (Inang Mahiwaga)
-the name of the group derived from Bathala
-founded by Venancio P. Wagan
-man must save his soul to reap happiness in Kalualhatian
while evil ones would be condemned to eternal pain in
Casanaan
-Christ was reincarnated through Rizal
-Rizal was not killed instead he left the Philippines for China
disguised as a Chinese.
-teaches that the Philippines is for Filipinos only and that
there should be no rich or poor
-Philippines will become a kingdom and all monarchs will
come from here
-existed in Mt. Banahaw, Dolores, Mt. Arayat (Pampanga)
and Mt. San Diego (Batangas), all considered as holy
mountains
-man has 3 spirits: 1. Caluluua-intelligent soul
2. Diwa-sensitive soul
3. Laygo-vegetative soul
5. Adarnista
-AKA Iglesiang Pilipina
-founded by Candida Balantac (Inang Adarna, 93-year old
widow)
-Rizal is a god of Filipino people; he was a true god and true
man
-heaven and hell exist and are within us
-caves of Bongabon, Nueva Ecija (dwelling place of Jehovah
or God)
-four persons in God namely: the Father, the Son, the Holy
Spirit and the Mother
-abode of the sect: caves of Bongabon
6. Sagrada Filipina
-existing in Candelaria, Quezon
-founders: Purificacion and Severo Aviela
-believes that there are 4 persons in one God: the Father, the
Mother (Mary), the son (Christ) and the Holy Spirit
-Rizal is the second Christ and will succeed Christ in the
second coming
-there is no hell and the sufferrings of this world maybe
considered as hell
-borrowed only the sacrament of baptism and there are no
other sacraments and no ministers aside from late founders
7. Watawat ng Lahi
-on the hill called Lecheria (outside Calamba)
-established by Arsenio de Guzman and Jose Baricanosa in
Masbate in 1914, transferred in Lecheria in 1936
-registered in the Bureau of Commerce in May 1944
-de Guzman was Rizal himself
-Rizal did not die and present in the New Jerusalem (Mt.
Makiling to Mt. Banahaw
-mas has soul but is different from Rizal who is god.
 All sects had borrowings from Catholicism
 Common denominator: 1) Concept of a man-god, 2)
redemption awaits man at the end, 3) Sense of patriotism
 The Foreign View of Rizal
 Southeast Asian peoples saw Rizal as exemplar of Malayan
race.
 “Renaissance man”- Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia
Anwar Ibrahim, pointing to Rizal’s virtue of self-
improvement
 Philippine Revolution- Asia’s first nationalist movement for
independence
 inspired Mohandas Gandhi (India) and Sun Yat-sen (China)
-Satyagraha-non-violent approach ruled by truth
(Gandhi)
-Rizal Monument in Xiamen, China (homeland of
Domingo Lam-co)
 Suehiro Techo translated Noli Me Tangere to Japanese
 Mi Ultimo Adios was quoted in the halls of the US Congress
by Representative Henry Allen Cooper to convince
lawmakers that Filipinos were not barbarians
-“How could these people be savages when there is
one among them who wrote a work this sublime?”
-Phil. Organic Act of 1902-allowing formation of Phil.
Legislature composed of Filipinos; convened in 1907
 Europe- different streets
-Berlin- “Jose Rizal StraBe” (Strasse)
-Spain-replica of Luneta monument in Madrid
-Gov. Polavieja and Archbishop Nozaleda
have a hand in Rizal’s death
-they blamed the “Black Spain” for the death
-Philippine Disaster (Desastre Filipina) -lost
of the Philippines
-Romania- Rizal was compared to its national poet
Mihai Eminescu; a monument was set-up in
Bucharest (Romania’s capital)
-international design competition for the monument
-lasted 1905 to 1907
-proposed monument= P100,000
-there were 40 entries
1st prize - Al Martir de Bagumbayan =P5,000
(Italian Carlos Nicoli)
-was not implemented because he was not able to
raise funds
2nd Prize – Motto Stella =P2,000
(Richard Kissling of Switzerland)
-implemented
-monument was inaugurated Dec. 30, 1913
 In 1961, in commemoration of the birth centenary of
Rizal, Architect Juan Nakpil built a stainless steel
pylon built around obelisk but later on removed.
 Transferred to the boundary of Paranaque and Pasay
City along Roxas blvd. until 1980s.
 Rizal’s remains were taken by Knights of Rizal from
Narcisa’s house in Binondo and taken to the Sala
Marmol (Marble Hall) of Ayuntamiento Building in
Intramuros on Dec. 29, 1912; remains stayed in an
overnight vigil before taken by UST students.

The Story of the Rizal Monuments

1. Daet, Camarines Norte
-1st monument in 1898 by fellow masons
-inauguarated on Dec. 30, 2nd anniversary of his martyrdom
-three-tiered pylon supporting a triangle w/ a square base
-representation of sun burst is attached to the top of triangle
- image adorns the official seal of Camarines Norte province
-declared national historic monument in 2007

2. Azcarraga Street (now Claro M. Recto) and Rizal Avenue

-1st monument in Manila in 1910
-funds taken from proceeds of Philippine Carnival
transferred to San Lazaro Park in 1918

3. American Colonization
 Act No. 243
-Sept. 28, 1901
-granting use of public land in Luneta for statue of Rizal
-monument committee:
1. Teodoro R. Yangco
2. Mariano Limjap
3. Maximino Paterno
4. Ramon Genato
5. Dr. Ariston Bautista
6. Tomas G. Del Rosario